Categories are the hierarchical structure used for the store. A single category can contain other categories, products, features, or all of these! Using the store templates you can even create other specialized categories, such as the Store Locator. Generally, you will at least need to add some categories to contain your store products, so put a little thought into how you want to categorize your products before getting started.
When you click on the admin option for Categories to show the Category Manager, you will see the current list of categories at the Home level, also called top-level categories. These are the categories shown on the home page (if that option is turned on) and will be used for any menus you are using in your layout (such as the default layout). By clicking on the name of a category in the list, you will be shown the subcategories under that category. There is no limit on the number of levels you can use for your subcategories, so with large stores, it can
sometimes get a little hard to browse through and find the one you are looking for! Filters and search fields are available to help you locate them as follows:
Name – search box for the name of the category. Any portion of the name will match.
Template – the page template currently being used for the category.
Access Key – Use this to find categories currently protected with an access key.
Display – Show only categories whose display is turned on, or off.
New – Show categories which are marked as new, or not new
Sale – Show categories which are marked as on sale, or not on sale
All – This link allows you to show all categories in your site
Some additional links are available in the category manager. After using a search, you’ll see the link to return to the Browse Categories option. While browsing, you will have a link to Add a Category to the current category (or home level). Finally, while in the list format, you will have a link to switch to the Edit Form. The Edit Form gives you a form to perform quick edits on all the categories at once. The fields include the following:
Priority – This determines the sort order of the categories on pages and menus. Priority of 1 will be listed first, then 2, and so on. Priority of 0 will be listed last. Where priority is the same, the categories will be sorted alphabetically.
Columns for Subcats – The number of columns used to display subcategories on this category page. Only used if the category has subcategories assigned and set to be displayed.
Columns for Products – The number of columns used to display products (or features) on the category page. Again, this will only be used if the category has content to be displayed.
Display – Toggles the category on and off in the store. Please note that if a category is turned off, the products and features assigned to it will also be hidden.
New – Marks the category as new using the image defined in your color palette. There are also special pages and tags you can use for displaying these categories.
Sale – Marks the category as on sale. Like New categories, these can be displayed in special places in your site.
Each category also has a link to View it in the store, and to go to the Edit form. The Edit Form is where you will configure all the settings for this category as follows:
Category ID – Automatically assigned by the system
Name – The name of the category. Used for the header if not title image and for navigation links
Under Category – The parent for the current category. The current category and any of its subcategories and their children will not be listed here, since a category cannot be a subcategory of itself.
Display – Check whether the category is displayed in the store or not. Note that if you turn a category off, the products and features assigned to that category will be hidden as well on store pages, searches, etc.
New – Check whether this is a new category, to be displayed on special pages and sections for these categories.
Sale – Check whether this is a sale category, to be displayed on special pages and sections for sale items.
Priority - The sort order of the category on pages and menus. Priority of 1 is the highest, then 2, and so on. Priority of 0 will be listed last. Where priority is the same, the categories will be sorted alphabetically.
Access Key – If you wish to restrict access to this category, set the Access Key here. Any products and features assigned to this category will automatically receive the same access key and be restricted from view, even on other category pages. See the Access Key help section for more information on using access keys.
Title Image (Teaser) – Graphic to use for the category title on the home page (for top-level categories) and the subcategory pages for other categories.
Image (Teaser) – Thumbnail image to display with the teaser text.
Teaser Text – The short description for this category displayed on the home page (for top-level categories) and the subcategory pages for other categories. Also used for other pages such as the sitemap and search results. See the guide for information on using the WYSIWYG editor.
Title Image (Header) – Graphic to use for the main title on the category detail page.
Image (Header) – Image to use along with the title of the category.
Detailed Text – The main text for the category. See the guide for information on using the WYSIWYG editor.
Template – The template determines what this category will be used for. It is important to select the right template or your page may not behave the way you expect it to. See the section on Category & Page Templates for more information on available templates.
Parameters – Parameters are used to pass additional settings to your template and can be customized. The default parameter for categories is ‘noline=1’ which disables the line output after the text on the category page.
Discounts – If you have setup any category-level discounts for your store, you can select them here. A category can have any number of discounts applied. See the help section for discounts for more information.
Display First – If a category has both sub-categories and content, you can set which will appear first on the page.
Custom Columns – These will override your store’s default settings for the number of columns to use for subcategories and for content.
Custom Palette – Select the palette to use for this category, by default the palette selected as the default in the Main Settings will be used.
HTML Title – Custom text to use as the custom title for this category page, useful for search engine placement.
Meta Description – You can enter a description specific to this category to be used for search engines; otherwise the default description set up in the Main Settings will be used.
Keywords – Enter the keywords for this category for search engines, if none are entered the store default will be used. The meta description and keywords will also be used for store searches.
The bottom of the category Edit page also has the option to Delete the category. You will be asked to confirm the deletion before it is completed; you will not be able to delete a category with products, features or subcategories assigned to it.